Method of and machine for packaging cigarettes



Aug. 9, 1932.

F. E. SCOTT ET .AL

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOB PACKAGING CIGARETTES Filed July 24, 1951 2Sheets-Sheet Ai g- 1932- F. E. SCQTT ET AL 1,870,533

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PACKAGING CIGARETTES Filed July 24, 1931 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. f fag) 5c0TT Mia's; 11/, WW

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 9, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE FITZHUGH EARLY SCOTTAND LAWRENCE R. BRYANT, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, AS- SIGNOBS TO LIGGETT &IVIYERS TOBACCO COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A COR- PORATION OF NEWJERSEY V METHOD OF AND MACHINE F03 PACKAGING GIGARETTES Applicationfiled July 24,

Our present invention relates to a method of and machine for packagingcigarettes and has to do more particularly with a method of and meansfor packaging cigarettes with a humidifying insert included in thefinished package.

At the present time the more popular brands of cigarettes now upon themarket are enclosed inv what are known as cup or pouch packagesconsisting of an inner wrapper of foil or foil and paper and an outerwrapper of relatively stiff paper. Cigarette packages of this type aremade by automatic machinery, which operates to suc cessively select orsegregate a given number of cigarettes, as, for instance, 20 ci arettesfrom a hopper or magazine and tien enclose the same within the on orpouch, the latter being usually formed about hollow mandrills carried bya rotary turret in the pockets or carriers of which the groups ofcigarettes have been previousi inserted. The cigarettes arethen pushedout of the pockets along with the cup or pouch and the projecting endsof the inner foil or foil and paper wrapper folded to closed positionand sometimes sealed, as by an overlying revenue stamp, or otherwise.

' We have shown our improvements as applied to such a known type ofmachine, although we do not wish to be understood as limiting ourselvesto the particular machine illustrated and described except as we may belimited by the appended claims. Brief ly and generally stated, ourinvention includes the method of packaging cigarettes with a humidifyinginsert therein, which consists in segregating a group of cigarettes froma mass, then associating a humidifying insert with said group, and thendelivering the said group of cigarettes along with the insert into aprepared wrapper, such as a formed pouch and sealing the same; andfurther includes a means for automatically feeding the humidifyinginserts to successively selected groups of cigarettes prior to the stepof inserting the group, with its associated insert, into a wrapper suchas a pouchtor cup. In order to enable others skilled in the art 1931.Serial No. 552,992.

to understand, make and use our said invention, we will now proceed todescribe a preferred embodiment thereof, which is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein.

Fig. 1 is a side elevatiton of a portion of'an automatic machine forpackaging cigarettes, with our improvements incorporated therein, andincluding the means for automatically feeding the inserts; I

Fi 2 is a similar View looking at the opposite side of the cigarettecarrying turret shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the broken line 3-3 of Fig. 2,-

Fig. 4 is a view of one form of humiditying insert, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a cigarette package made according toour invention, a portion of the walls thereof being broken away toexpose the insert.

' In the said drawings the reference numeral 1 designates anintermittently rotatable shaft upon which is mounted a turret frame 2,carrying at its periphery a plurality of spaced cigarette pockets 9:. Asall the pockets are of like construction a description of one willsufiice. Each pocket consisting of a fixed upstanding side wall 3,having an overhanging top flange 4, and a movable upstanding side wall5, having a bottom section 6, extending toward and meeting the innerface of the opposite fixed side wall 3, so that said side walls 3 and 5and bottom and top walls a and 6 constitute a pocket 2 of a size andshape to hold group or selected number of cigarettes, as, for instance20, to be included in each package. The overhanging top flange i of thefixed wall 3, terminates short of the inner face of the movable sidewall 5, for a purpose presently to be described.

Each movable side wall 5, is mounted upon a slidable bar 7, each barcarrying a roller 8, mounted for rolling movement in a cam-slot 9,formed in the face of a fixed camplate 10, which is mounted concentricith the intermittently rotating shaft 1.

,1 1e cam-slot 9, as more clearly shown in Fig. 1, is so arranged thatthe movable side wall 5, with its bottom 6, may be progressively movedrelative to the fixed wall 3, and its overhanging top flange 4;, so thatas the turret rotates in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1, thegroup of cigarettes in each pocket will be slightly compressed. Theletter A, in Fig. 1, indicates approximately the station at which thegroups of cigarettes are pushed endwise into the pockets 2 as theysuccessix ely appear at said station so that when they reach thedischarge position B, the groups of cigarettes will be pushedsuccessively from the pockets 2*, into the pockets 12, formed by themandrils 13, carried by a secondintermittently rotating tur- I each ofthe pockets 2*, a humidifying element or insert, which in the presentinstance, is in the form of a cylinder or tube carrying moisture. Asshown in Fig. i, this humidifier may consist of an open-ended tube 16formed of wax paper or the like, and which carries a filler of moistenedabsorbent material 16, all as shown and described in the copendingapplication for patent, Dr. Paul M. Groce'and George H. Flowers, filedJuly th, 1931, serially numbered 550,978.

In order to feed the humidifying inserts or tubes 16, into the pocketscarried by turret 2, and in association with the cigarettes therein, weprovide each pocket with a movable substantially hook-shaped top wall17, having the upper face of its end 18, slightly beveled and projectingdownwardly into the ocket 2 and positioned to enter the space etween theoverhanging wall 4. of the fixed side Wall 3, and the inner face of themovable side wall 5, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. Each top wall 17 isformed as a part of a casting pivoted at 19' to the outer face of thefixed side wall 3, and each has a downwardly and rearwardly trailing arm20, carrying at its end a roller 21, which normally rides on a track 22,also formed on the fixed turret plate 10. A spring 23 (Fig. 3) is coiledabout the pivot pin 19, of. each pocket, the free projecting ends of thespring acting respectively upon the fixedwall 3, and the casting of theoverhanging top wall 17, so as to normally hold the top wall 17 inposition to have its downwardly projecting end 18 enter the pocketbetween the overhanging portion 4 of the fixed wall 3, to completelyclose the cigarette pockets, and to engage and push the humidifyinginserts into position. in association with the group of cigarettes inthe pocket. p

The track 22, is provided at one point with a cam-plate 24, as moreclearly shown in Fig. 1, and with which the roller 21 carried by the arm20, contacts during the rotation of the turret so as to move the topwall 17 on its pivotat the moment the pockets successivelyarrive at thestation C, indicated in Fig. 1, andthus raise the downwardly projectingportion 18, from the pocket and leave a free space for the insert toenter the top of the pocketand become associated with the cigarettestherein.

The humidifying inserts 16, are carried by a hopper or magazine 25, inthe forward open end'of which is mounted a rotatable drum 26, carried bya shaft 27, driven by a belt 28,

from the intermittently rotating main shaft 1, or from any othersuitable source, said shaft 27, and itsdrum 26, being so timed that aninsert will be delivered into each cigarette pocket 2 as the pocketssuccessively appear at the station C. The drum 26, carrieslongitudinally extending peripheraldepressions 26, into which thehumidifying inserts may enter as the drum rotates in the direction ofthe arrow shown in Fig. 1.. The inserts are prevented from falling fromthe pockets by a curved plate 29, having a depending portion 30, sopositioned that the inserts will be discharged from the depressionsatthe proper moment to permit them to fall into the cigarette pockets. Arotat able wheel or brush 31, is mounted in the hopper 25, above thedrum 26, and operates to assist the inserts in finding their Way intothe depressions in the periphery of the drum.

I The operation of the mechanism described is as follows:

Assuming the turrets 2 and 14 to be rotating intermittently in thedirection of the arrows, when the cigarette pockets of turret 2, reachthe station A, at which the pockets have their largest dimensions, agroup of cigarettes is fed into each pocket. As the turret continues torotate inthe direction of the arrow, the movable wall 5, is movedrelative to the fixed wall 3, of each pocket, so that the cigaretteswill become gradually compressed, and as the pockets successivey appearat the station C, the compression is relieved by the rollers 8,, movingin the flattened portion 32 of the cam groove 9, and at this momenttheoverhanging top wall 17 will be moved back or ,to open position as theroller 21 engages the cam 24 of the cam track 22. At this point ahumidifying insert which has been brought to position by the drum 26,.drops into the open pocket, whereupon the overhanging top wall a isimmediately brought to position to cause its downwardly extendingportion 18 to enter the cigarette'pocket directly above the insert.

The group of cigarettes together with the inserts are thereafter again,placed under cup or pouch and at a later position of the turret 14, theprojecting end of the pouch is folded to closed position and thereafterpushed out of its hollow mandril in a finished state, to be then stampedor otherwise sealed, as desiredf-these several operations occurringsuccessive-1y and in regular sequence during the intermittent motion ofthe turrets.

\Ve have notillustrated herein the mechanism for pushing the separategroups of cigarettes into the cigarette pockets, nor have we illustratedthe mechanism for forming the cups or pouches and for closing them, asthese mechanisms are all well known in the art and do not constituteapart of our present invention, the latter residing primarily in theapplication to such a known cigarette packaging machine of a means forso compressing the groups of cigarettes to be packed and associatingwith each group a humidifyingim sert, such as herein described, so thateach group of cigarettes wrapped or packaged by the machine will haveincorporated in the sealed orclosed package, a humidifying insert whichwill raise the moisture content of the tobacco in the packagedcigarettes,'-all as more clearly described in the before mentionedapplication for patent of Groce and Flowers.

parting from the spirit of the invention, and

it will be further obvious that the mechanism shown may be employed in'connection with the packaging of other articles besides cigarettes' andwherein it is desired to associate an insert of some kind with thepackaged articles. r

What we claim is:

1. The method of packaging cigarettes with a humidor insert, whichconsists in seg regating a group of unwrapped cigarettes,

compressing the group, associating a humid ifyinginse'rt with said groupand in direct contact with certain of the cigarettes therein, and thendelivering. the said groupof cigarettes along with the insert into aprepared wrapper and closing the same, whereby the moisture from thehumidifying element will be free to be taken up by the tobacco in thewrapped package.

2. The method of packaging cigarettes With a humidifying insert in thepackage to increase the moisture content of the tobacco in the packagedcigarettes, which consists in segregating a group of unwrappedcigarettes, associating a humidifying insert with said group and indirect contact with the cigarettes, and then pushing the said group withits insert endwise into a preformed cup or pouch package and closingthesame.

3. The method of packaging cigarettes with a humidifying insert in each}package toincrease the moisture content of the tobaccoin the package,which consists in successively advancing groups of unwrapped cigarettesto be packaged, associating a humidifying insertwith each group duringsuch advance and before the group is wrapped, advancing a succession offormed pouch-like containers and bringing them, into register with theadvancing cigarette, groups, and then assembling the said containers andgroups to form filled and closed packages of cigarettes each containinga humidifying insert, whereby the moisture from the humidifier will befree to be taken up by the tobacco in the packages. i a c 4. The methodof packaging cigarettes with a humidifying insert in each packageto-increase the moisture content of the tobacco therein, which consistsinintermittently advancing in a ,circular path successive groups ofunwrapped cigarettes to be packaged, associating a humidifying insertwith each group before the groups are wrapped at a predetermined pointin said advancing path, simultaneously advancing successively pro-formedpouch-like containersand bringing them into register with the advancingcigarette groups, and then assembling the said containers and groups ofcigarettes to form closed packages each containing cigarettes and anassociated humidifying insert.

5. In a machine for packaging cigarettes,

a turret carrying a plurality of cigarette thereto and a movable closuretherefor,

' relative means for" compressing the cigarettes while I in said"pockets,'and means for feeding a humidifyin-g insert through the saidopening and into direct contact with the cigarettes in each pocket.

7. In a machine for packaging cigarettes, an intermittently rotatingturret carrying a plurality ofpockets, each formed of two reiativel'ymo'vable walls, a movable closure pivoted to one of said walls andhaving a portion adaptedto enter its associated pocket, means for movingtheclosureon its fpivot to open and closed positiomand means or feedinga humidifying insert intoeach pocket Whenitsclosure isin open position;

8.111 a machine for packaging cigarettes, an intermittently rotatableturret having a plurality of spaced pockets, each consisting oftwo-relatively movable walls. with'an opening leading intoeach pocket, apivoted closure for said opening, meansoperated during rotation of theturret to move the closure to open position at a predetermined point,and means operating to feed; an insert into each pocket when itsassociated closure is in open position.

9. Ina machine for packaging cigarettes wan humidifying inserts thereinto increase the moisture-content of the tobacco in the packages, anintermittently rotating turret carrying a plurality of pockets, eachhaving y movable walls constructed to providean opening leading intothe-top of'each pocket when in an upward position, an independentclosure member having a portion movableinto'and out of said opening,means for feeding a humidifyin g insert" through said opening and intoeach pocket when t c said closureis in open osi'tion', and means forthereafter movingtlie closure to closed position. i I 3 10. In amachine-for packaging cigarettes with a humidifying'insert'in eachpocket, a rotatable turret carrying a plurality'of cigarettepockets,each pockethaving an opening in a wall'thereof, amovableclosu-re for said opening, means for compressing the cigarettesin the pockets, and for relieving the compressiomfmeans for opening theclosure, means for feeding an insert into thepockets when theirassociated closures are in open poanion, and meansfor thereafter againplacing the cigarettes'in the pockets under com-v pression.

11.. In a machine for packaging groups of cigarettes, with a humidifyinginsert as sociated with each. group, an intermittently rotating turretcarrying a'plurality of spaced cigarette pockets, each having an openingtherein, a. movable closure for said opening, means for moving theclosure. to open and closed position, a magazine for humidifyinginserts, and'means for feeding the inserts 7 from the magazine: intoeach pocket when its pair ofintermittently rotating turrets, one

carrying a plurality of cigarette'pockets each with an opening in a wallthereof, and the other a luralit of pouch carrying mandrils,

means or fee ing a humidifying insert in association. with thecigarettes in each pocket and through the opening leading thereto,meansv for thereafter compressing the cigarettes andmeans for forcingthe cigarettes endwise from each pocket into a pouch mandril of theother turret.

13. In a machine for packaging cigarettes with a humidifying insert ineach package, an intermittently rotatable turret having at its peri'hery a pluralityof cigarette carryingpoc ets, eachhaving an openintherein, aclosure pivoted to a wall of eac pocket, each closure having.a tail piece, a fixed cam arranged for engagement by said tail piecetomove theclosure to open position at a predeterminedpoint, and meansfor feeding a humidifying insert into each pocket when the closure is inopen position. i l

1 4; In a machine forxpackaging cigarettes witha humidifying insert ineach package, a rotatable turrethaving a plurality of ci arette-carryingpockets at its peripherywit an opening-leading into each pocket, a hOOk?shaped closure pivoted to a wall of each pocket, meansifor'normallyholding the closure-in closed position, a cam for moving the sition,means for opening the closure at a predetermined point in the travelpath of the turret, means for compressing cigarettes in each pocketduring a: portionof the travel path of the turret, means for relievingthe compression at the point where the inserts are fed into each pocket,and means for thereafter again placing the cigarettes under compression.

16. In a machine for packaging ci arettes with humid-ifying inserts ineach pac age, a plurality of pockets each adapted tocarry a group ofcigarettes, eachpocket having an opening through a wall thereof, aclosure for said wall,means for opening and closing the closure,: meansfor moving the cigarette pockets through an endless path, and means fordepositing a humidifying insert into each pocket When the closure is inits open position.

17. In a machine for packaging cigarettes with a humidifying insert ineach package, an intermittently rotating turret, a plurality of pocketscarried by said turret, each pocket having an opening in a Wall thereof,a closure associated with each pocket for opening and closing saidopening, means for moving the closure to open position, a magazine forthe inserts, means for delivering the inserts from the magazine into thecigarette pockets when the closure member is in open position, and meansfor thereafter moving the closure to closed position.

Signed at Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State of Virginia this20th day of July, A. D. 1931.

FITZHUGH EARLY SCOTT. LAWRENCE R. BRYANT.

